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We like to think of “faith” as something strong—“trust” as something unwavering. But, on occasion, we doubt … we have uncertainty. We don’t like to admit it, but we are sometimes plagued with doubt. And, then we begin to worry, and wonder if we have any faith at all. It might surprise you to know that doubt and uncertainty can result in an even stronger “faith.” Continue reading "The Lesson of Doubt—Learning to Ask the Right Questions"→

The term “Progressive Revelation” is often used very casually, and can mean different things to different people. There is an important distinction in Jewish thought between what is new and what is illuminated at a later time. In Christian theology, revelation is often used of information that is “brand new” and revealed by God only to certain individuals. According to Jewish thought, whereas “revelation” is obviously a valid phenomenon, it often involves acquiring a deeper understanding of something already revealed. That is, sometimes a “full” (or complete) understanding of “something” is not revealed until the right time, or until the occurrence of a specific event. Continue reading "What is ‘Progressive Revelation’?"→

There is a mistaken notion that difficulty (or the lack of prosperity) in life is necessarily a direct result of our sin (either inwardly or outwardly). And, it is because of this sin that God withholds His blessing from us. The converse notion is also faulty, that prosperity is necessarily a sign of God’s favor or approval. Continue reading "Is All Difficulty in Life a Sign of Sin?"→

Let’s look at the account in Genesis 6:1-8:22 in another way—in a way that allows us to see how the information is organized. Hebrew doesn’t use capital letters, vowels or punctuation. It doesn’t employ bolded, italicized, or colored letters. So, it employs other literary devices, like parallelism, to make a point. In this case, the information “folds back on itself” at a crucial statement, “God remembered Noah.” Continue reading "What is the Bible trying to tell us about God in the “Flood Narrative”?"→

The Land of Israel was not called “Palestine” in the 1st-century. The Romans referred to it as Judea and its inhabitants as “Jews” (regardless of which one of Israel’s twelve tribes they were descended from). The Jewish people referred to it as Israel and generally referred to themselves as Israelites – but also as Jews (to a lesser degree).